Last week several members of THX participated in the Halo 3 launch in many different ways. Some of us waited in line at game stores while others attended official launch parties. We all took a slightly different approach to finishing the fight. Click read more for two of these accounts.
THX at Gamestop in Huntsville, Alabama by Midnight
On the night of Monday September 24th twelve members of the Hushed Casket community descended upon Gamestop on University Drive in Huntsville, Alabama. They brought coffee, cookies, lawn chairs, and an appetite for Halo 3. Of the dozen THX’ers present, four had already finished the Halo 3 campaign via copies sold before the street date, but they were yearning for much more than a simple disc: camaraderie, conversation, and a Spartan helmet fit for only the most worthy household pets.
I arrived shortly before 9 P.M. and found myself about #13 in line. At 26 I was one of the older Halo fans in line at the time, with the front of the line occupied by a group of young teenagers gleefully playing hackey-sack, much like young teenagers used to do in 1995. Some customers near me discussed Bioshock as I sat down on the sidewalk.
By 10 P.M. the line had grown considerably and all THX’ers that attended were present. Gamestop created a very effective system for processing and delivering the preorders. We each filed into the store starting shortly after 9 P.M. and paid off our preorder in full. We were given a receipt to show in order to claim our copies at midnight. As we exited the line was directed to reform to the opposite side of the door from which it came, clearly separating those who had paid off their bill and those yet to do so. Around 11:30 they closed up for final preparations. At midnight they began allowing ten people into the store at once. Each of us would show our receipt to one employee, who stamped it to prevent fraud, while another employee handed us the proper Halo 3 SKU. It was a thoughtful and clever system that got me on my way home at 12:10 A.M. on Tuesday.
Before heading home we gathered in front of the store for one final picture to testify of our commitment to the Halo nation. Legendary Editions in hand, we raised them high and said goodbye to each other while we said hello to the moment each of us had waited for since November 2004.
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Microsoft Pre-Launch in Alpharetta, Georgia by Mintz
While perusing the internet for useful XNA information a couple weeks ago, I came across the Zman’s blog. One of his posts explained that he might be able to score some tickets to a Halo 3 pre-launch event, and one of the locations listed was in Alpharetta, GA. All I knew was 1) Halo 3 multiplayer would be played in tournament fasion, 2) food would be present, and 3) it was from 6pm to 10pm. That was all I needed to know.
I asked the Zman for some tickets, and luckily, he hooked me up with two! I used one ticket for myself and another for Dolbex (Gary). Dolbex lives about twenty minutes from Alpharetta, and he was gracious enough to supply a place to sleep.
I took two days off from work/school (the 24th and 25th) and hit the road around 11:30am CDT. The drive wasn’t so bad, and on the way I decided to grab some food at a place I seldom visit: McDonalds. It didn’t take long for me to remember why it had been so long ago I visited them last. Burger King definitely has better fries.
I met Dolbex at his house, and marveled at how little had changed since LANbex. We chatted with his wife for a few minutes before heading out to the pre-launch party. After driving for four hours, I looked forward to getting driven the rest of the way, until Dolbex shattered that fantasy with news that he doesn’t have an operable car at the moment. He works from home, so it’s not a priority for him. I slide into the driver’s seat, clear all the snacks and crap I had on the passenger seat for Gary, and we head out.
We swing by GameStop for Gary to pay off the rest of his copy of Halo, and I lay down another pre-order for the regular edition. We had plans to leave the Pre-Launch party, meet up with a bunch of people at GameStop, grab our copies at midnight, and go back to Gary’s house to play until the fight was finished. Yes, I’m so hardcore I currently have two copies of Halo 3 now (regular edition + Legendary Edition I reserved in Huntsville).
We arrive at the (very nice, sleek, and new-looking) Microsoft building where the party was being held. We open the gold-rimmed glass doors to reveal a lobby that’s two stories tall with nice floors and dramatic lighting everywhere. It was very impressive. Our confusion over where to go was absolved when we saw a Master Chief poster with a sign that said “Microsoft 3rd floor.” It was conveniently placed right next to some elevators. Our confusion was absolved.
The only legal picture I could take… at least I think it’s legal. The quality makes it look shady.
We arrive on the third floor and happen upon two tables of women who were taking our registration forms. I show her my ID and she says, “Wow, you drove here all the way from Alabama!” “Yes,” I said. “I’m just that hardcore.” She agreed, and gave me some more paperwork to fill out explaining that I don’t mind if my picture is taken, and that I won’t take any pictures. Talk about a double-standard. That explains the lack of thousands of words in this article.
We walk down the hallway some more and see a room with a slightly higher ceiling hosting projectors and HDTVs with Xbox360s and copies of Halo 3(!). Turns out it was an event mainly for developers and business people. I figured Gary was a web developer, and I recently got a job creating XNA-driven programs, so we should fit right in. We grabbed some complimentary drinks at the open bar (of sodas), grabbed a seat, and waited our turn to play some Halo. It was quickly apparent that the general crowd here doesn’t play video games. I grabbed a controller and sat in front of the HDTV Gary and I were waiting to play on. He decided that it would be a good idea if we didn’t square off against each other the first time we played (each TV had FFA split-screen between four people), so he decided to wait for the next round.
After I got my controls set up, the match started, and I immediately noticed a problem. “Um, Gary, the controls are lagging.” It was a classic case of you-push-the-button-to-move…then-your-character-moves. “This would never happen at MLG, would it Gary?” “Oh no, people would go apeshit.” The best part about the whole situation was that I still beat the other three people with 27 kills in ten minutes, the next player having only 9. Gary did a little recon to see if any other TVs had the problem, but when he reported back, he had disappointing news: “All I got were a bunch of people saying, ‘Uh, no man! At least, I don’t think so…'”.
I moved to a different TV after grabbing some refreshing cookies and pretzels, and pwned the people on that box, too. The TV didn’t have any lag issues, but the people I played against on High Ground were NOT developers; they were ~16/17, and they still got crushed under the mighty hand of Mintz. So what if I won by one point? Winning’s winning.
We played a few more games of Halo 3, then decided to head out after I played a couple songs on Guitar Hero II, which had its own projector in the corner. Pizza showed up, so we decided to stick around a little bit longer. I stood in line to get some pizza, got to the front of the line, and noticed that all the pepperoni pizza’s were gone. Slightly disappointed, I grabbed a slice of cheese and went back into the gaming area. One of the event coordinators caught up to me about five minutes later and said, “You missed a box of pepperoni, and since you drove all the way from Alabama, I thought I’d claim you a couple slices.” That guy was awesome. On our way out, we collected a schwag bag that contained a Halo 3 t-shirt OR a Halo 3 hat, plus a poster. I inquisitively asked, “If one were to drive all the way from Alabama, could he get both?” It was the same guy who got me the pepperoni pizza, and he again proved his awesomeness by hooking me up with both. Thanks again, man!
There were plans to play a Halo 3 match with the other pre-launch parties using the best player from each respective party. Even though I had won every game I played (and worked my way up some kind of ladder), Gary and I decided to head out to GameStop and wait with his buds. I’m not saying I would’ve won or anything, but I probably could’ve. Hanging out in front of GameStop also proved highly rewarding. There was a mini Halo 2 tournament set up by the GameStop employees to pass the time while everyone waited. Even though yourmom (Gary’s friend, Mario) had a top seed, he still lost, because he’s a noob who doesn’t know when to use the sniper on Ivory Tower. It also might have to do with the fact that I criticized every facet of his gameplay while he playing.
After we grabbed some Red Bull from the Red Bull girls (who Mario controversially says were not hot), people began to get a little antsy and started getting in line about fifteen minutes before the clock struck midnight. The final minutes were passed by GameStop employees passing out t-shirts to those who had free raffle tickets. Nobody won jack squat, except Maurice, who won a Kane & Lynch t-shirt that was two sizes too small, so that doesn’t count.
We grabbed our copies, got in our cars, and jetted back to Gary’s house. Five and one-half hours later, we were all watching the credits after beating the game on Legendary (co-op, of course). I slept on the very same couch Furhman slept on a bit over a year before, woke up, played some Halo 3 multiplayer, slept on the same couch again, and left in the early afternoon.
Thanks again, Gary, for your hospitality, and thanks to everyone else I hung out with that night for a fun time!
